Amarinder demands probe by CBI

Patiala, May 28 (UNI) Former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who was questioned by the state Vigilance Bureau sleuths here in connection with the Ludhiana City Centre (LCC) scam probe, today demanded the inquiry to take place through an independent agency like Central Bureau of Investigation or Enforcement Directorate.

Interacting with mediapersons here, he said that Vigilance Bureau sleuths were courteous to him.

He said they asked him why he had not taken action against the persons involved in the alleged city centre scam. He, however, told them that he had ordered a vigilance inquiry to find out what went wrong with Ludhiana City Centre, he said.

Mr Singh said the government procedure was that chief secretary and secretary in charge of the department should have forwarded the inquiry report to him and then he would have ordered the inquiry by any appropriate agency.

Mr Singh alleged ''a 17-member Vigilance team has been working for the past three months to create evidence against me. All this is being done to tarnish my image. But, the people and their sympathies are with us. All such actions will have no effect on my political image'', he said.

Brushing aside allegations of corruption against him and his family members as ''false'', Mr Singh blamed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for what he called a ''witch-hunt'' against him.

''To carry out his political vendetta, Mr Badal is also embroiling my 84-year-old mother and other women of the royal family in the case. This is most unfortunate,'' he said.

''I never let anyone interrogate Mrs Badal or allowed the Vigilance Bureau to call her over for investigation,'' he explained.

However, justifying the inclusion of Mrs Badal in the corruption case, he said, ''It was done as she was a director of Trident Hotels, which was under scrutiny of the investigating agency. Otherwise, we would have never booked her''.

UNI